1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to surgery of the eye, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for the treatment of cataract.
2. Description of Related Art
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. There are currently over 100 million people in the world that have cataracts that interfere with visual function. In addition, there are currently approximately 22 million people in the world who are completely blind from cataracts. The vast majority of these patients live in developing countries. Despite modern surgical techniques, the rate of cataract blind increases annually. The prevalence of bilateral cataract blind is currently increasing by 1.5 million people per year. There are seven million cataract surgeries performed annually, but the fact that ophthalmologists cannot remove the backlog of bilateral cataract blind or even keep up with the rates of new cataracts generally is clear evidence that a new methodology to deal with developing world cataracts is required.
Pediatric cataract is a devastating problem world wide, and its treatment is very challenging. The disability and economic burden on families, communities, and countries based on the combination of pediatric and adult cataract is staggering.
Cataracts are an opacification of the natural human lens. Current methods of cataract treatment include removal of the lens, and refractive correction. Oftentimes, an intraocular lens is used. Historically, the lens could be couched with a needle. There are no pharmacological treatments for cataract blind. It is purely a surgical disease. Extracapsular cataract extraction is a very effective method for treating cataract blind. Once the cataractous lens is removed, more light will enter the eye; however, a method to focus the light (except in the rare case of very high myopes) is required. Either spectacles or a precise and calculated power of intraocular lens is required. To choose the correct power intraocular lens, biometry and keratometry are required. These technologies are often not available in the developing world, and as a consequence, standard powered lenses are implanted in the hope that most people will see substantially better.
The current invention not only describes a novel apparatus and method for treating millions of individuals blind from cataract, and in some embodiments also reduces the need for precise refractive correction after cataract treatment.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for treating cataract that can be performed in locations without extensive cataract treatment support infrastructure. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for treating cataract that can be performed in locations with fewer specialized practitioners. It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to treat cataract. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to assist with a novel method of treating cataract.